Giving love one more try

“Something’s Gotta Give�

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet (Columbia TriStar, $29)

The audience vote: Since its release last December, “Something’s Gotta Give� has grossed more than $123 million in the U.S. and an additional $92 million internationally. Written and directed by Nancy Myers, the film demonstrated to Hollywood, again, that audiences of any age will turn out for a smart, entertaining film, even if it doesn’t feature teen dreams such as Ashton Kutcher and Mandy Moore as the leading players.

The career revival: “Something’s Gotta Give� was a comeback for Keaton, who won the Golden Globe and received an Oscar nomination for her multilayered turn as a 50-ish divorcee who ends up falling in love with her daughter’s (Peet) 60-ish playboy boyfriend (Nicholson). Keaton and Nicholson appeared together in dramatic roles in 1981’s “Reds� -- for which they were both Oscar nominated -- and the chemistry they exuded then was very much intact 22 years later, especially in the scenes in which the two realize they are falling in love.

The extras: The disc’s one deleted scene is a real charmer. It features Nicholson and Keaton going to a karaoke bar where he sings Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose� to her. Keaton is marvelous in the short scene as she cries, laughs and beams while he delivers the classic love song in a throaty whisper.

The two stars also supply commentary. A subdued Keaton is featured sporadically in a commentary track with Myers and producer Bruce A. Block. Nicholson is front and center in his separate audio commentary with Myers. Nicholson is cool -- and a bit naughty -- as he waxes lyrical about working on the film.

The weak link in the extras is a tour of the set of Keaton’s Hampton house led by Peet, who drones on about how nervous she was working with the two superstars.

*

Romance blooms under the surface

“Splash�

Stars: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy

(Touchstone, $30)

The breakthroughs: “Splash� transformed Hanks, a young TV actor, and Hannah into movie stars. And the fanciful comedy about a young man who falls in love with a mermaid named Madison also put Ron Howard on the map as a director. With “Splash’s� success, no one thought of Howard as just the kid who played Opie on “The Andy Griffith Show.�

The rating gamble: The film became the first PG-rated film for Walt Disney Studios -- this was before Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg took over -- and the initial release for the company’s new Touchstone Pictures. And the modestly budgeted film went on to gross nearly $70 million domestically in its initial release.

The extras: The bonus interviews are rich in historical detail. As Howard; producer Brian Grazer, who came up with the story idea; and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel point out on the DVD, the project had to overcome seven years’ worth of roadblocks before it got the greenlight. Every studio turned it down. So Grazer went to Disney, which at that point was far from being the major player it is now. Even after the project was in place at Disney, every major actor approached to do the film turned it down.

The DVD features Hanks’ and Hannah’s audition tapes; a comprehensive retrospective on the making of the film, featuring interviews with the stars and creative team; and a funny 1984 interview with the late Candy who plays Hanks’ brother.

Rounding out the DVD is a breezy commentary with Grazer, Howard, Ganz and Mandel.

-- Susan King